Today's Deals

Updated with a few deals, here at the top.

New coupon code at Kobo, good for 25% off select eBooks, good thru Fourth of July: 4825USoffz

If you go to Google's Music store in the US, today's free song (about half way down the page) is Don McLean's American Pie. You do have to have a credit card on file to get it, but you won't be charged (Google's free music sometimes requires a card on file, sometimes not, but I haven't been charged for any of the free ones I've grabbed over the last few months). There are several free Indie Rock cuts reachable from the sliding menu at top and a a few free Metal cuts reached from the graphic at the bottom of the page.

Now free on Kindle:

• Red, Green, or Murder (K/DF)
• Heartshot (K/DF)

Today's Kindle Deal of the Day is The Minotaur ($1.99), the third title in the Jake Grafton series by New York Times bestselling author Stephen Coonts. Another Open Road re-issue, this would be a must-buy for me, but it's already in my library.

Book Description
At the height of the Cold War, Captain Jake Grafton becomes entangled in the hunt for a spy selling high-tech military secrets to the Soviet Union

Naval pilot Jake Grafton flies fighter jets with ice water in his veins. But when he’s assigned a desk job in the Pentagon as the head of a top-secret stealth bomber program, his nerve is tested as never before. Colleagues start dying mysteriously, test flights are sabotaged, and the program is threatened at every level. If Grafton can’t infiltrate a web of espionage and counter-espionage centered round the deadly traitor, code-named the Minotaur, he stands to lose much more than just his career.

The Minotaur is an exhilarating thriller and fascinating procedural, revealing the complexities of military technology R&D.

This ebook features an illustrated biography of Stephen Coonts, including rare photos from the author’s personal collection.

The UK Daily deal is Three Teen/Young Adult Books for £0.99 (1.55) apiece and one of the titles is also a great bargain for those in the US!

Witch Child (Main/UK), the first in the series by Celia Rees (no US edition)

When Mary sees her grandmother accused of witchcraft and hanged for the crime, she is silently hurried to safety by an unknown woman. The woman gives her tools to keep the record of her days - paper and ink. Mary is taken to a boat in Plymouth and from there sails to the New World where she hopes to make a new life among the pilgrims. But old superstitions die hard and soon Mary finds that she, like her grandmother, is the victim of ignorance and stupidity, and once more she faces important choices to ensure her survival. With a vividly evoked environment and characters skilfully and patiently drawn, this is a powerful literary achievement by Celia Rees that is utterly engrossing from start to finish.

Bleeding Hearts: True love bites... (Main/UK), the third title in the Drake Chronicles by Alyxandra Harvey (US edition $6.39)

Lucy's cousin Christabel has come to live in Violet Hill, and adjusting to the difference between life in a small mountain town and her home in the city is difficult. The strict curfew that Lucy's parents enforce is hard to respect. Surely something really dangerous couldn't possibly happen in this tiny town.

But Christabel starts to notice some mysterious happenings, and it seems like Lucy, her boyfriend Nicholas and his brother Connor are all in on a secret that Christabel doesn't understand - one that seems deadly serious. Although she won't admit it, Christabel would love to be in on any secret with Connor Drake. When Christabel is kidnapped by the ruthless Hel-Blar vampires, Lucy and Connor finally fill her in on all the undead drama. Together, they must find a way to stamp out the Hel-Blar for good.

Magyk (Main/UK), the first title in Angie Sage's Septimus Heap series (US edition $1.99). Check your libraries on this one, as there was a bonus edition free on most platforms in January of last year and it was marked down to £0.74 for those in the UK at that time. If you didn't manage to get a copy then, this is an excellent price in both countries, today, for an excellent series for those with middle-grade children.

Enter the world of Septimus Heap, Wizard Apprentice. Magyk is his destiny.

A powerful necromancer plans to seize control of all things Magykal. He has killed the Queen and locked up the Extraordinary Wizard. Now with Darke Magyk he will create a world filled with Darke creatures. But the Necromancer made one mistake. A vital detail he has overlooked means there is a boy who can stop him - the only problem is, the boy doesn’t know it yet.

For the Heap family, life as they know is about to change, and the most fantastically fast-paced adventure of confused identities, magyk and mayhem, begin.

Grade Level: 4 and up

Forever Barbie: The Unauthorized Biography of a Real Doll ($3.99 Kindle, B&N), by M. G. Lord, is the Nook Daily Find, price matched on Kindle.

Book Description
Since Barbie's introduction in 1959, her impact on baby boomers has been revolutionary. Far from being a toy designed by men to enslave women, she was a toy invented by women to teach women what-- for better or worse-- was expected of them. In telling Barbie's fascinating story, cultural critic and investigative journalist M. G. Lord, herself a first-generation Barbie owner, has written a provocative, zany, occasionally shocking book that will change how you look at the doll and the world.

The Pox Party ($8.35 Kindle, $1.99 B&N), the first title in The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation series by M. T. Anderson and winner of the National Book Award, is the Nook Daily Find for Families.

Book Description
This deeply provocative novel reimagines the past as an eerie place that has startling resonance for readers today.

Young Octavian is being raised by a group of rational philosophers known only by numbers — but it is only after he opens a forbidden door that learns the hideous nature of their experiments, and his own chilling role them. Set in Revolutionary Boston, M. T. Anderson’s mesmerizing novel takes place at a time when Patriots battled to win liberty while African slaves were entreated to risk their lives for a freedom they would never claim. The first of two parts, this deeply provocative novel reimagines past as an eerie place that has startling resonance for readers today.

Grade Level: 9 and up

Today's Deals

Just quick reminder - it's the first of the month and there is a new group of 100 Kindle books for $3.99 or less available. For Prime members, the start of a new month means you can get a new book from the Kindle Lending Library (provided you return the one you have, of course). The new month also means lots of new free books, so prepare for a deluge of posts during the day, today.

Today's Kindle Deal of the Day is The Days of Summer ($1.99), by Jill Barnett. Looks like a good price for those who didn't get it when it was free last summer.

Book Description
In 1957, the Banning family leads a life of privilege, wealth and domestic unhappiness. At the head of this California dynasty is oil magnate Victor Banning, a man of great power and even greater obsessions, who is determined to teach his son and grandsons to be predators in his dog-eat-dog world.Jimmy Peyton is a rising star in the music business, a young man with a bright future and no connection to the Bannings, until the fateful night their cars collide on a Los Angeles street, changing the lives and future of two innocent families.Laurel Peyton, Jimmy's daughter, has lived her entire life in the shadow of grief. Though her mother, Kathryn, struggled to keep her daughter safe and secluded after the terrible accident that ruined their family, she cannot guard against the one danger she never expected: Love.In 1970, Victor's grandsons, Jud and Cale, meet the beautiful and spirited Laurel, and these two families cross paths once again, this time on a passionate course that pits brother against brother and mother against daughter--a clash of wills that gradually draws them all closer to the truth of their tragic connection.

A Dangerous Talent (An Alix London Mystery) ($1.55 / £0.99 UK), a standalone novel by Aaron Elkins (Gideon Oliver series) and Charlotte Elkins (Lee Ofsted series), is the Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (the US edition is $4.99/KLL Eligible).

Book Description
Alix London has a promising career as an art consultant, a sumptuous condo in Seattle’s toniest neighborhood, a gorgeous figure, and a presence that exudes Ivy League breeding and old money. She has it all…or does she? Only Alix knows that the image she presents to the world is a carefully constructed mirage that veils an embarrassing truth. A brilliant, once-promising art student, the daughter of a prominent New York art conservator, her world was left in ruins when her father went to prison for art forgery. Now a Harvard dropout with an emptied bank account, she is languishing in a career that has produced little more than a lucky house-sitting gig. But all of that changes when Alix meets Christine Lemay, a novice art collector with money to burn and a hot tip on a recently discovered painting by American master Georgia O’Keeffe. Chris hires Alix to perform the authentication, an assignment that finally could launch Alix into the big leagues. But soon after her arrival in Santa Fe, she finds herself tangled up in a web of forgery, deceit—and murder. Anxious to avoid becoming the next victim, she teams up with FBI Special Agent Ted Ellesworth—and gets a little unlikely help from her roguish father—to uncover the truth behind the painting and those who would kill to have it. Sharp, witty, and devilishly fun, A Dangerous Talent offers an insider’s look into the surprisingly treacherous contemporary art world.

SEAL of My Dreams ($1.99 Kindle, B&N), an anthology with short stories by Cindy Gerard, Stephanie Bond, Elle Kennedy, Helen Brenna and Kylie Brantis (et al) is the Nook Daily Find, price matched on Kindle. If you read romance or just want to support a great cause, you should pick up a copy of this book today, while it is on sale.

Book Description
Honor, duty, courage, passion . . . the men of the Navy SEALs are a special breed of hero, and in these novellas by eighteen top romance authors the SEALs are celebrated not only as symbols of devoted service to their country but as the kind of men every woman wants to love. They’ll rescue a damsel in distress and her lap dog, too. They’ll battle hometown dramas and international bad guys. When it comes to giving away their hearts, they’ll risk everything.

All proceeds from sales of SEAL of My Dreams go to the Veterans Research Corporation, a non-profit fundraiser for veterans’ medical research.

Between them, the authors of SEAL of My Dreams have won dozens of writing awards including multiple RITAs from Romance Writers of America. Their nearly 600 published novels have sold at least 35 million copies worldwide. The SEAL of My Dreams roster includes many of the best-known authors in modern romance fiction. In addition, many have strong family connections to the servicemen and women of our nation’s military, and many specialize in novels featuring heroes and heroines from all branches of service.

The Arctic Incident ($1.99 Kindle, B&N), the second title in Eoin Colfer's Artemis Fowl series, is the Nook Daily Find for Families, price matched on Kindle. Be careful if searching on either device, as there are multiple editions and only the one linked here is on sale today. As a bonus, at Amazon you get the Audio/Video enhanced edition at this price; you can read it on any Kindle device or app, but on the iPad/iPhone, you get additional content. I'm tempted to get this edition, even though I already have the plain text version, just to see the enhanced content. At B&N, you also are getting an enhanced edition, but this one will ONLY be viewable/readable on either the NOOK Color or NOOK Tablet, so if you want to read it on an eInk nook or your phone/PC/iPad, you'll have to buy the full price edition, instead.

Book Description
Artemis Fowl receives an urgent e-mail from Russia. In it is a plea from a man who has been kidnapped by the Russian Mafiya: his father. As Artemis rushes to his rescue, he is stopped by a familiar nemesis, Captain Holly Short of the LEPrecon Unit. Now, instead of battling the fairies, Artemis must join forces with them if he wants to save one of the few people in the world he loves.

When a twelve-year-old evil genius tries to restore his family fortune by capturing a fairy and demanding a ransom in gold, the fairies fight back with magic, technology, and a particularly nasty troll.

Kindle Edition: Includes video footage from Eoin Colfer's one man stage show, Fairies, Fiends, & Flatulence. See different selections from the show in every Artemis Fowl eBooks 1-7.

Grade Level: 5 and up

Free Science Fiction from Asimov's Magazine

This year, Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine once again has several nominees for both the Nebula and the Hugo Awards in various short fiction categories. They have made DRM-free PDF copies available to download (the podcast nominees can be listened to online), including Nancy Kress' Act One, which was also free on Kindle recently.

Get the free downloads from The Hugo Awards nominees.
Get the free downloads from Nebula Award Nominees.

With both, you'll have to use Right Click and Save As to get them downloaded, as just clicking the link often displays an error (looks like a coding error at their end, as the browser thinks it is opening a directory, rather than downloading a file). I generally buy this and Analog SF magazine at Fictionwise, but both are also available on the Kindle.

If you are interested in getting a copy of all the Hugo Award nominee's works, you can still join Chicon as a supporting member (it costs $50/year) and get copies of the nominated novels, novellas, novelettes and many "related works" as seen on this page (scroll about half way down). Of course, you are expected to then read them and vote by July 31st (done online), in at least one category, if not all of them.

Today's Deals

Kobo has a few of new coupons this weekend, the first couple of which are for Canada Day and all of which expire at midnight July 2, 2012: dandm30 for 30% off (selected list only), canadaday20 for 20% off, PanMac30Jun29 for 30% off select MacMillan titles (UK only?), ac3auto35 for 35% off, and ac4auto45 for 45% off.

This weekend's Fictionwise coupon is 062912 for 35% off.

Sony has one of their rare coupons this weekend, good for 30% off. In the US, use 4THOFJULY30, and in Canada, CANADADAY30. Add the coupon to the account first; it should be good thru July 4th.

At DecalGirl, save 25% on all skins, until July 4th, using code FIREWORKS.

Today's Kindle Deal of the Day is The Vegas Knockout ($1.99), by Tom Schreck.

Book Description
Duffy Dombrowski just accepted a dream job: chief sparring partner for Russian heavyweight contender Boris Rusakov in Vegas. His obstinate basset hound, Al, and a few friends join Duffy for the ride—but before Duffy knows it, his trip turns into a nightmare. Someone’s killing local Mexican workers, friends and relatives of Duffy’s gym buddies. And to make matters worse, Duffy’s got Boris’s Russian mobster pals chasing him with murder on their minds.

Quirky characters, rapid-fire dialogue, and nonstop action propel The Vegas Knockout into the sphere of gritty thrillers that hit with astonishing power.

Inside Job ($2.09 / £1.29 UK), by Charles Ferguson, is the Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (no US edition).

Book Description
The definitive big picture on the financial crisis, from the man behind the Oscar-winning documentary that exposed the workings of the new economic elite.

Based on explosive interviews conducted personally by award-winning filmmaker Charles Ferguson, as well as newly released court documents and information buried in archives, Inside Job traces in gripping detail how the financial industry and its enablers went rogue. Ferguson shows how three decades of deregulation created a “predator nation” and invited the crisis, particularly as key players cycled through positions of power in government, “independent” academia, and big-ticket finance. With clarity, toughness, and stunning freshness, he delivers an unrivaled accounting of how the new economic oligarchy have wrested control of our politics – and our prospects for eventual recovery.

So, You Want to Be Canadian: All About the Most Fascinating People in the World and the Magical Place They Call Home ($0.99 Kindle, B&N), by Kerry Colburn and Rob Sorenson, is the Nook Daily Find, price matched on Kindle.

Book Description
So, you want to be Canadian? Who doesn't these days? Canucks are enjoying a major renaissance in attention, from their enlightened social policies to their wild and wooly pop culture. This playful, trivia-packed book is a long-overdue celebration of all things Canadian, from the mysteries of "eh?" to the difference between an Ogo Pogo and a Windingo to how to prepare moose stroganoff (mmm!). Featuring a dreamy list of Canadian hotties, a toe-tapping roundup of Canadian smash hit songs, a handy Canadian-American translator, and pointers on how to eat, dress, and apologize like a Canadian if you weren't lucky enough to be born a Canuck, So, You Want to Be Canadian demonstrates once and for all why Canada is so cool (formerly just cold).

Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane ($5.24 Kindle, $1.99 B&N), the second title in the Underland Chronicles series by Suzanne Collins, is the Nook Daily Find for Families.

Book Description
The action and adventure continue for Gregor in this stunning fantasy from a rising literary star.Gregor learns of his role in another Underland prophecy, yet he swears he will never return to that place. But his vow crumbles when his little sister, Boots, is snatched. Gregor knows it is a ploy to lure him to the subterranean world, but he gives in and heads back underground, where he is reunited with his bat, Ares, the princess Luxa, and new allies. Together, they descend into the deadly Waterway in search of an ominous rat known as Bane. But Gregor must face the possibility of his greatest loss yet, and make life and death choices that will determine the future of the Underland.

Managing My Kindle Libraries

This is a good time to mention my new strategy with my Kindle Library, which (as most of you know) is so large it causes all the Kindle 3's on the account to constantly reboot, if wireless is left on (apparently only in WiFi areas, from my experimentation). I have set up second account (some of you may want more than one) and I am "repurchasing" all the zero cost books there, as they pop back up as repeats, and deleting them from my main account. You might even want one for "free - indie author" and "free - commercial publisher", although I don't think I'll go that far. Those with kids may want to set up a separate account just for their books, as that is the best parental control method I've seen for Kindle - only have kids books in that account (paid or free, since there aren't that many free books in this category, from what I've seen).

It'll take a while to fix my main account, to be sure (it appears I need to get to around 3,000 books or less to fix both the rebooting issue and the inability to access the full archive from my Kindle). Another thing I'm doing to get there faster is that I've backed up all my Kindles to my hard drive, then imported all the AZW books into Calibre (using a new, labeled Library for this purpose). I then set it to convert to MOBI - those with DRM will fail, those without will succeed; I then deleted (from Calibre only) those that ended up without MOBI editions - what's left is all DRM-free books, which I'm removing, a few at a time, from my main Kindle account (to make it go faster, open up several tabs on your library - delete a book, switch to another tab while it refreshes).

Amazon lets you move your Kindle freely between accounts - you first deregister from the account it is on, then register to the new account. Make sure you do this with a wireless connection on - you Kindle must see that it has been deregistered or it won't properly register to the new account. It is often easiest to do this from the Kindle itself (at least, with a K3 or the Touch). Nothing gets wiped from the Kindle when you do this (unlike the nook tablets, which must be wiped clean to change accounts), so you can move your Kindle, grab a book or two, then move back to the "default" account. While you have no physical Kindles attached to an account, purchases just go to the CloudReader, so you don't even have to worry about this process when buying from the web. To make it easier for me to remember which account I'm buying in, I use two different browsers, with my default browser on my main account and a second browser (Chrome, in my case) logged into my "free books" account and that account has no payment methods, so it can't buy something by mistake (the only downside is that I can't add free pre-orders on this account, until they actually release).

You can also register your Kindle to the account from the web page - this is handy if you just want to download a book to your computer and transfer via USB (emailing might work, since it will have that Kindle's serial number in the DRM, but I haven't tested this yet). You do still have to deregister from the first account to start (it won't let a Kindle be registered to two accounts at once), but you can cut/paste the serial number from the first Manage Your Kindle Page and the entire process of de-register/register to 2nd account/send book/deregister/register to 1st account only takes about 1-2 minutes, with two browsers and a bit of practice. Amazon remembers all your settings for email and Kindle name on the first account and I haven't seen that this even impacts subscriptions (although all I have are a few blogs).